AUTHOR=Sharma Kusum , Sultana Taranum , Liao Mingmin , Dahms Tanya E. S. , Dillon Jo-Anne R. 

TITLE=EF1025, a Hypothetical Protein From Enterococcus faecalis, Interacts With DivIVA and Affects Cell Length and Cell Shape

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00083

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2020.00083

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>DivIVA plays multifaceted roles in Gram-positive organisms through its association with various cell division and non-cell division proteins. We report a novel DivIVA interacting protein in <italic>Enterococcus faecalis</italic>, named EF1025 (encoded by <italic>EF1025</italic>), which is conserved in Gram-positive bacteria. The interaction of EF1025 with DivIVA<sub>Ef</sub> was confirmed by Bacterial Two-Hybrid, Glutathione S-Transferase pull-down, and co-immunoprecipitation assays. EF1025, which contains a DNA binding domain and two Cystathionine β-Synthase (CBS) domains, forms a decamer mediated by the two CBS domains. Viable cells were recovered after insertional inactivation or deletion of <italic>EF1025</italic> only through complementation of <italic>EF1025 in trans</italic>. These cells were longer than the average length of <italic>E. faecalis</italic> cells and had distorted shapes. Overexpression of <italic>EF1025</italic> also resulted in cell elongation. Immuno-staining revealed comparable localization patterns of EF1025 and DivIVA<sub>Ef</sub> in the later stages of division in <italic>E. faecalis</italic> cells. In summary, EF1025 is a novel DivIVA interacting protein influencing cell length and morphology in <italic>E. faecalis</italic>.</p>